CANNES, France — The Cannes Film Festival rewarded one of its favorite directors Sunday, as Michael Haneke won the top prize for a second time with his stark film about love and death, “Amour.”

The Austrian director’s powerful and understated film stars two French acting icons — 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva and 81-year-old Jean-Louis Trintignant — as an elderly couple coping with the wife’s worsening health.

Haneke said he made the film because “I experienced something in my family that touched me.”

Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas was named best director for his surrealism-tinged family story “Post Tenebras Lux.”

The best actor prize went to Mads Mikkelsen as a man ostracized by his small-town community when he is accused of child abuse in “The Hunt.”

Best actress was won jointly by Cristina Flutur and Cosmina Stratan, as friends separated by faith in the Romanian movie “Beyond the Hills.” Cristian Mungiu’s drama of love and faith in a remote Romanian monastery also won the award for best screenplay.